HaVoK

Well shoot, I actually do have one around 25 minutes away. Maybe I can do some return edges on things I haven't trimmed too short after all. Thanks for the help again Everyone, I'll look into that runewolf, I was stuck on what size screws to use for the ears. Some more questions with pics: Would it hurt to use some bondo to fill in those depressions on the underside of those two teeth and that little dent under the left eye? Also, should I trim along the brow? Looking around some people trim that and some people I saw left it. (I also noticed the center tooth doesn't line up with the centerpoint of the helmet, I looked through other helmets and noticed the same thing. How odd!) Does it look okay to trim along the lines I penciled in? (Shin on left, thigh on right, kneepad on top) Along the top of the left shin piece, the plastic turns out and points upwards instead of making a nice edge should that be trimmed? (Thanks Syd for pointing out I can get a Heat sealing iron at Hobbytown USA) On the top of the thigh piece to the right, Should I trim along the pencil line I made next to the red #1?

Thanks for the help again, I'll look into that runewolf, I was stuck on what size screws to use for that. Some more questions with pics: Would it hurt to use some bondo to fill in those depressions on the underside of those two teeth and that little dent under the left eye? Also, should I trim along the brow? Looking around some people trim that and some people I saw left it. (I also noticed the center tooth doesn't line up with the centerpoint of the helmet, I looked through other helmets and noticed the same thing. How odd!) Does it look okay to trim along the lines I penciled in? (Shin on left, thigh on right, kneepad on top) Along the top of the left shin piece, the plastic turns out and points upwards instead of making a nice edge should that be trimmed? I wish I had a heat sealing iron like stuka, I looked around a little while I was shopping and didn't see one. Is there a place to get one locally in the USA? On the top of the thigh piece to the right, Should I trim along the pencil line I made next to the red #1?

Thanks for the help all, and ah.. That's interesting Volumino. Noticed something, if you flip the armor over and look at the inside of it, sometimes you can make out the return edge better or near where you should trim? Rather then looking on the outside.

Was rough trimming the forearms and they just look odd, are the forearms supposed to be this wonky / unsymmetrical? Or they're bad pulls because mine is recast

There's a return edge/rounded corner on the bottom of the chest piece and arms but not on the neck, I think the only way I could make it have one is by not trimming that material and somehow heating it and bending the plastic down. I still need to find out what type of screws to use for the ears, as well as materials needed for the fabric part of the suspension system/harness for the armor. I emailed TK-4510, he was really nice about things and kept in quick contact with me as I asked some questions, I sent him the money and he said he could do express shipping on the decals/tube stripes, pinstripe tape, neck and brow trim. I really appreciate it. [edit] Also I just did some digging and mine is not ATA armor, that's why it didn't come with the extra parts needed to assemble. It's a recast of TE called "ST-AA" in 60ga (15mm)Styrene. Please don't think the maker of ATA forgot parts or I got jipped by him. He's quality and stands by his work from what I've seen.

I don't think I have enough time to order magnets from online as I was going to start final trimming and glue/shimming tomorrow, I'll try to find somewhere local. Thank you though! Also for the chest piece, is this more along the lines of what I should do?

I knew I forgot something, looks like I'll have to go out again tomorrow. Does lowes or somewhere elsecarry those? I looked at ace hardware's website and some reviews said the earth magenets ace carries are "weak"

Started going through and looking at the rough trims I did, going to begin sanding and trimming closer now. Here's one area I'm not sure of as the neck is odd on the front chest piece and two shoulder pieces where the straps would go over. I guess it's best to trim around the neck or slowly sand untill that kind of crinkled odd plastic is gone? *Edit* Shopping trip for today completed: Hope I got the right things. Couple concerns, the Rust-oluem spraypaint now says "50% faster coverage high output tip" and the primer says "2x the coverage" on the can, I didn't see those in TK-4510's tutorials.

Yeh I'm taking my time, Luckily no work this week or next so maybe even if I take it I can pull it off! If not, I'm still going to CV and I'll make the armor extra nice for Halloween! Maybe I have an offshoot of ATA or a used (never put together) one and someone forgot the extras, while it may be it still looks pretty sharp and good or comparable or maybe there was a mistake. It's okay though, I'll take the hit and make the best of it. All I have is the armor + helmet pieces and the hovi mix mic tips. I emailed TK-4510 out of interest for the brow and neck trim, as well as the ANH vinyl decals, I'd pay him for overnight or express shipping I mentioned. I found 1/8" x 3mm rivets today and a rivet hand tool and everything else but the snaps/snap tool, some kind of acetate for the eyes, screws and a hobby file that I was planning to use on the eyes. Thanks for being so kind you guys, in a little bit I'll post pics of some trims I've done to double check if they have too much or if I missed something.

Hey all. I got a ST-AA set of armor about two months ago and came around here asking some tips on trimming when I first got started but got sidetracked with life, bah! I don't know if it's even possible or not to get it finished on time but I'm going to Celebration V and want to wear my armor for at least part of one day! I've got most of the parts trimmed and need some advice on others which I'll show pics later but as for today or tomorrow. I'm doing a bit of final shopping at Lowes, Home depot, Walmart, Et cetera. [edit] I've found most of what I'm looking for except for the screws that go into the ears and straps I'd use for the harness/armor suspension system. I haven't decided on a harness/strap system either, whether it be velcro, button/snap, or rivets. I've looked at Dave's youtube videos as well as Stuka trooper's flickr albums. Is a snap system like Stuka's the best way to go? Or is there better setup I've missed looking around. Thanks for the help!

Thanks No'l and Darktrooper, That helps out a bit. I'm still iffy about the collar section though of the front Chest plate of where to trim there. I've come across Stuka's flickr photos which is nice reference and a big help for setting up the straps inside of the armor and how to glue and add shims/buttons. I'm trying to figure out what thickness I should get for elastic/canvas for the inner straps. Also what type of buttons and rivets, I read I can get the industrial velcro at wal-mart I believe. What I'm really not sure of though is, what is the best type of glue to use? I see Stuka uses e6000 and TK-4510 has plastic weld and zap-a-gap.

Hey all, Hope everyone's weekend is going good. I just purchased and received a TE derived ATA set of armor, This will be the first time I'm doing a build. TK-4510's stickied topics about the helmets is a really good resource, it'll come in handy but I'm saving the helmet for last. So far I've got a ATA set of armor and stunt helmet. Resin Aerators. Clamps upon clamps (Got a bag of them at Lowe's for 9$!) Lexan curved Scissors, Utility knife, Hobby knife and masking tape. I've still got to decide on what glue is best to use, I've seen various types mentioned like plastic weld, e6000, zap-a-ap, But I'm not sure whats best. Have to get buttons, rivets, velcro, elastic soon as well. I'm just starting to do rough trimming now, I'm trying to triple check references as I go along because I believe I might have messed up on the right thigh area of the ab/cod piece. I started using the score and snap method, but now I'm using the curved scissors to a much better effect on the other parts I've trimmed so far (chest and back) Heres a picture. I think I cut it too short, from now on I'm leaving a bit of extra room before going back in and doing a finer slow cut. I've started rough cutting the chest piece as well, for the neck I made sure to leave myself room to work with, there doesn't seem to be a seam or fine line around it that is well defined, should I just sand off the extra slowly? Also, I put feint red and black lines along the left collar piece. Should I cut along the red or black line? Here is the back piece, it's the third piece I've started to trim, I've gotten abit better with the scissors now and found it much easier to cut from right to left due to how the blades are while pulling lightly on the extra piece of plastic to help along. How much of that extra bit should I leave? Thanks!